Cultivating Happiness

April 3, 2014

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Spring is in the air and we are loving it! And what is better than a little spring cleaning to not only improve our own lives but the lives of others around us? This week at ImageThink we are looking at new ways we can reinvigorate our working lives and cultivate happiness everywhere. When we came across Michelle McQuaid’s article on 5 Steps to Happiness:

Understand the power of mood on performance

It takes just seven minutes for someone’s mood to infect an entire group’s. Given 20-30 per cent of business performance is determined by the mood of employees, positive thinking is key!

Focus your energy on strengths

Two-thirds of employees have no idea what their strengths are – the things they like doing and are good at. Yet focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses has been found to improve engagement by up to six times, improved productivity and happier customers. Do you know what your team’s strengths are?

Take a micro-moment to invest in relationships

Each time we genuinely connect with another person, the pleasure-inducing hormone oxytocin is released into the bloodstream, helping to reduce anxiety and improves concentration and focus. Scientists have discovered it takes just a micro-moment to connect by: sharing a positive emotion such as kindness, gratitude or amusement; making eye contact or matching vocal tones to synchronise your brain activity; and then investing in the feelings of mutual care that rise up.

Get clear on your purpose

Leadership researcher Simon Sinek notes: “You can run a company, but you can only lead people.” So how would you finish this sentence: everything I do is to ___________, so that ___________. Would others be motivated to follow you there?

Ignite hope

Eighty-nine per cent of people believe tomorrow will be better than today, but only 50 per cent believe they can make it so. The gap is the difference between wishing and hope, and – all other things being equal – a 14 per cent improvement in productivity. Have you set “want to” goals for your people, mapped the pathways forward, planned for the obstacles and ensured you have what it takes to maintain the willpower of you and your team to get the results you desire?

With Michelle McQuaid’s thoughtful points in mind, we look forward to mapping our own pathways to happiness. What would your pathway to happiness look like if you drew it out?
Check out our past blogpost on Anne Madsen’s Graphic Facilitation Templates for some more visual inspiration.
Interested in Graphic Facilitation? Learn more about ImageThink’s capabilities in Graphic Facilitation and illustration on our Services page.